Food Online hosted a live web chat, Food For Thought: Improving Food Manufacturer & Retailer Teamwork In A Recall featuring Alicia Sims-Miller, manager of the reverse logistics and business integration teams for PepsiCo’s North American Nutrition Division, and Kim Combs, recall/regulatory compliance manager for The Kroger Co. In this 45-minute live Q&A, Combs and Sims-Miller answered the audience’s questions about the food manufacturer/food retailer relationship during recalls. While the session was educational and informative, there wasn’t enough time to answer every question. Here, Combs addresses some of the unanswered questions from the live web chat.

EDITORS' DESK

Food Online hosted a live web chat, Food For Thought: Improving Food Manufacturer & Retailer Teamwork In A Recall featuring Alicia Sims-Miller, manager of the reverse logistics and business integration teams for PepsiCo’s North American Nutrition Division, and Kim Combs, recall/regulatory compliance manager for The Kroger Co. In this 45-minute live Q&A, Combs and Sims-Miller answered the audience’s questions about the food manufacturer/food retailer relationship during recalls. While the session was educational and informative, there wasn’t enough time to answer every question. Here, Combs addresses some of the unanswered questions from the live web chat.

It’s no secret that food safety education and training is immensely important to food makers. It’s an on-going process, and sometimes, it’s even a struggle. As the food industry evolves, so do the ways companies become educated on food safety practices. To get a good idea of how food safety education and training has evolved, and continues to evolve, some comparisons are needed to draw parallels.

Food Online and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) hosted a live web chat, Food For Thought: Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Traceability But Were Afraid To Ask. In this 45-minute live Q&A, Jennifer McEntire, Ph.D., vice president food safety & technology at United Fresh Produce Association joined Kristen Spotz, senior manager of food safety & quality assurance at GMA to talk all things traceability related to the food industry. While the session was educational and informative, there wasn’t enough time in the session to answer every audience member’s questions. Here, Jennifer and Kristen address the unanswered questions from the live web chat.

FOOD MANUFACTURING GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

Food inspection systems using state-of-the-art technologies are most successful when they are designed with many support methods and principles. I’ve written articles on how this is true with metal detection technology, X-Ray inspection machines, and vision inspection systems. This article will explore checkweighing systems, how they add support to food safety methods and principles, and the benefits implementing them can provide food manufacturers.

Food safety is a team sport; you can have the best programs in the world, but it takes people to carry out those programs. Many food safety programs fail for one very simple reason: there is not a culture fostered that promotes food safety at every level. From the very top, throughout the entire organization, there needs to be a commitment to food safety and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Earlier this year, the U.K. voted to leave the EU. Ensuing events of the Brexit vote have been characterized by frustration and uncertainty in the near and far future as the U.K. will now go at it on their own after 43 years in the EU. This represents a distinct turning point in European history and the implications on the U.K. are expected to be radical. One particular issue, food safety, did not receive much consideration during the Brexit campaign. What will be done to fill in where the EU left off? Ambivalence over what the U.K.’s legislative framework will resemble has caused more than a little anxiety, but along with the bigger political issues there is still opportunity for the U.K. to enhance food safety regulation and re-instill confidence in its food system.

Whole Genome Sequencing is a scientific breakthrough we first thought would remain confined to the halls of medical science for the treatment of human diseases, such as cancer and previously undiagnosed ailments. Nevertheless, it has quickly entered and impacted the realm of microbiologists, food safety managers, risk managers, lawyers and CEOs in the food industry. But is this for better or for worse?

A number of issues surrounding the measurement of magnetism in mass measurement has created frustration for mass calibration laboratories and for accreditation bodies. NCSLI recently met to bring together interested parties to discuss issues with the intent of coming to some resolutions on how to handle the various issues. Submitted by Rice Lake Weighing Systems

Moisture content has been established as an important indicator of shelf life for foods.
Moisture can determine the aesthetics of food, giving estimates to product shelf life
regardless of sample properties in a wet or dry state. By Arizona Instrument LLC

In order to meet purity and storage stability requirements of dextrose (D- glucose) and fructose syrups, ionic impurities are removed in ion exchange columns. In syrup deashing, a bed of acidic cation resin is followed by a bed of alkaline anion resin to extract ionic loads made up of salts and mineral acids. By Mettler-Toledo AG, Process Analytics, Inc.

FOOD MANUFACTURING APPLICATION NOTES & CASE STUDIES

In the processing world, safety management cannot be overemphasized. In particular, the mixing room, where raw materials are combined to produce the final formulation, is a source of many potential health and operational hazards.

Constantia Aloform, a leading producer of deep-drawn aluminum packaging, makes optimal use of the material properties of aluminum for airline containers. High thermal diffusivity enables simple cooling for transport, and easy heating—to keep those meals above the clouds delicious!

Mac Process E-finity™ is a patented continuous dense phase convey system for fragile materials. Precise pressure monitoring and airflow corrections allow the system to operate efficiently under all conditions, while gently inducing materials through the convey line in slug form. E-finity™ is ideally suited for granular and pelleted materials, and has proven itself on many projects for pet foods, cereals, nuts and grains.

The CRA (Cleanable Round Airlock) valve Mac Process has taken an important step in a visionary Clean Design Initiative, which will supply a complete line of engineered and manufactured cleanable solutions for food and pet food customers.

The MCF PowerSaver™ is a sustainable, low maintenance air filtration solution which operates with low pressure cleaning air (7-9 psig). It consumes less horsepower than any other bag filter and requires no integrated plant compressed air.

The patented SpaceSaver™ dust collector is the smallest on the market. The SpaceSaver™ is up to 75% smaller than traditional baghouse collectors, freeing up valuable space and allowing a fit in tight spots.

FOOD INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

In Part Three of FSMA Fridays: Food Safety Plans — HACCP To HARPC, SafetyChain’s Jill Bender was joined by The Acheson Group’s Dr. David Acheson and Dr. Peyman Fatemi to detail what the FDA expects regarding compliance to a HARPC-based food safety plan and when the agency will begin expecting it. Here, in the fourth, and final, segment of the series, the trio will begin handling questions from webinar’s live audience.

In the second portion of FSMA Fridays: What Does Being FSMA Compliant Really Mean? SafetyChain’s VP of Marketing, Jill Bender, and the Acheson Group’s Dr. David Acheson discussed what exactly FSMA is trying to achieve and what the food industry is currently doing regarding FSMA’s documents and record keeping requirements. Here, in part three of the series, Bender and Acheson will continue addressing questions from the webinar’s live audience regarding FSMA compliance.

The Food Safety Modernization Act will soon have a dramatic impact on the food safety and regulatory landscape for facilities producing products regulated by the FDA. The Preventive Controls for Human Foods proposed rule, which is expected to be published as a final rule this month, will significantly change the way food manufacturing companies document their food safety systems. The traditional approach of using the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) system will transition to the new HARPC (Hazard Analysis Risk-Based Preventive Controls) system. The change will be required by the new FDA regulatory standard defined in 21 CFR 117.26(a).

In the second portion of FSMA Fridays: Building A FSMA-Ready Food Safety Plan, SafetyChain’s Jill Bender and The Acheson Group’s Dr. David Acheson discussed the elements needed to create a FSMA-ready food safety plan. Here, in part three of the series, the duo will continue that conversation and explore what the FDA is expecting in regards to recordkeeping and documentation under FSMA.

SafetyChain Software’s VP of Marketing, Jill Bender is joined by The Acheson Group’s (TAG) VP of Scientific Affairs, Dr. Peyman Fatemi, and TAG’s Senior Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Gurjit Shergill, to share insight on the latest news with FSMA, the importance of an environmental controls program, and the key principles of environmental controls.

ABOUT FOOD ONLINE

Welcome to Food Online, the premiere Internet resource, helping build a community to advance the production of safe and healthy food and beverages. We provide best practices and solutions in food safety, food processing, automation, packaging and the supply chain.